I’d like to emphasize that when a reader finishes a great novel, he will immediately begin looking for another. If someone loves your book, it increases the chance that he or she will look at mine. So there is no competition between writers. Another writer’s success helps build a larger readership for all of us.

The One With 311

So Mike-the-Bellman knows a guy who knows a guy and got me free tickets to last night’s 311 concert. Paige, Liz, and I had a freakin’ good time.

Before the show started, the large screens mounted on the sides of the stage were displaying various ads. There was one for a specific brand of wine. It struck Paige and I as funny as wine isn’t typically a popular item with a reggae/rock crowd. Paige said, “Yeah, ’cause there’s nothing I like better than Chardonnay with my blunt.”

The opener for 311 was Matisyahu. I had never heard of him before, but ended up really liking his music. You know, once I got over the fact that a Hasidic Jew was rapping.

And now for the good stuff… I discovered too late that the pictures I took were a little blurry when transferred to a larger screen, but the following weren’t too bad considering the degree to which I had zoomed in.

The only disappointment of the night: Nick Hexum did not remove his shirt.